Carlo Ponti

Carlo Ponti, Sr. (11 December 1912 – 10 January 2007) was an Italian film producer with over 140 production credits, and the husband of Italian movie star Sophia Loren.

Career

Ponti was born in Magenta, Lombardy and studied law at the University of Milan. He joined his father's law firm in Milan and became involved in the film business through negotiating contracts. Ponti attempted to establish a film industry in Milan in 1940 and produced Mario Soldati's Piccolo Mondo Antico there, starring Alida Valli, in her first notable role. The film dealt with the Italian struggle against the Austrians for the inclusion of northeastern Italy into the Kingdom of Italy during the Risorgimento. The film was successful, because it was easy to see "the Austrians as Germans" during World War II. As a result, he was briefly jailed for undermining relations with Nazi Germany.

Ponti accepted an offer from Riccardo Gualino's Lux Film in Rome in 1941, where he produced a series of commercially successful films featuring the comedian Totò. In 1954 he had his greatest artistic success with the production of Federico Fellini's La strada. However, Fellini denied Ponti's role in its success and said that "La Strada was made in spite of Ponti and De Laurentiis". Ponti produced Boccaccio '70 in 1962, Marriage Italian Style in 1964, and Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow in 1965. He produced his most popular and financially successful film, David Lean's Doctor Zhivago, in 1965. He subsequently produced three notable films with Michelangelo Antonioni, Blowup in 1966, Zabriskie Point in 1970 and The Passenger in 1974.

Carlo Ponti (conductor)

Carlo Ponti, Jr. (born 29 December 1968) is an Italian orchestral conductor working in the United States. He is the son of late film producer Carlo Ponti, Sr. and Italian movie star Sophia Loren and he is the older brother of film director Edoardo Ponti.

Biography

Born in Geneva, Switzerland, Ponti worked at the Conductor's Institute in Connecticut, under the direction of Harold Farberman from 1994 to 1996, worked with Mehli Mehta, Zubin Mehta and Andrey Boreyko in Los Angeles from 1997 to 1999 and furthered his musical studies in Austria at the Vienna Musikhochschule from 1999 to 2001 under Leopold Hager and Erwin Acel.

He has guest conducted internationally, was the recipient of various awards for fostering the growth of young musical talent through music education. Ponti has been associate conductor of the Russian National Orchestra since 2000 and was music director and principal conductor of the San Bernardino Symphony from 2001 to 2012. In 2013 he founded the Los Angeles Virtuosi Orchestra, an ensemble emphasizing music's educational value of which he is music director and principal conductor. The Los Angeles Virtuosi Orchestra is currently performing its' inaugural concert season (2015-2016) at the Raymond Kabbaz Theatre in Los Angeles, California.

Carlo Ponti (photographer)

Carlo Ponti (1823–1893) was a Swiss-born optician and photographer from Venice.

Carlo Ponti was born in Ticino. He was optician to King Victor Emanuel II of Italy and inventor of megalethoscope, a viewing device for photographs and its larger version the alethoscope.

References

Carlo Ponti (disambiguation)

Carlo Ponti (1912–2007) was an Italian film producer.

Carlo Ponti may also refer to:

  • Carlo Ponti (conductor) (born 1968), orchestral conductor of Italian origin
  • Carlo Ponti (photographer) (1823–1893), Swiss-born optician and photographer
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    Oscars 2025: Throwback to When Sophia Loren Decided to Miss Her Best Actress Win at the Biggest Awards For a HILARIOUS Reason

    Pinkvilla 02 Mar 2025
    The 97th edition of the Oscar Awards is set to raise their curtains in a few hours ... 1.9K. Oscars 2025 ... follow us. share ... Instead, the actress sat at home with her husband, Carlo Ponti, the producer ... Also Read. Oscars 2025 ... If I lost, I’d faint.
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